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West Virginia case: It's still lawful to pose a question to a government official
Source: Washington Post
West Virginia case: It’s still lawful to pose a question to a government official
By Erik Wemple September 6 at 5:34 PM
No, Public News Service reporter Dan Heyman was not engaging in “willful disruption of governmental processes.”
Charges against Heyman, who pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price with questions in the West Virginia Capitol building in May, have been dropped, according to a joint announcement from the Public News Service and the Kanawha County prosecuting attorney. “The State has determined, after a careful review of the facts, that Mr. Heyman’s conduct, while it may have been aggressive journalism, was not unlawful and did not violate the law with which he was charged, that is, willfully disrupting a State governmental process or meeting,” notes the joint statement. “Mr. Heyman certainly appreciates the State’s decision and affirmatively states that he was simply doing his job as a reporter by asking questions of a federal official as that official walked through the Capitol.”
The West Virginia incident is ancient history when it comes to affronts to U.S. journalists, coming long before President Trump’s full-on attacks against the media at a recent rally in Arizona and before the body-slamming of a Guardian journalist by Republican Greg Gianforte in the final moments of his run for Montana’s sole congressional seat, which he ultimately won.
Yet it should not be forgotten. To recap, Heyman was following Price and White House aide Kellyanne Conway as they made their way through the building. They’d come to hear about opioid addiction. In a scene that plays out in legislative corridors across the country, Heyman was walking along as he asked Price a question about health-care policy. Specifically, he wanted to know whether domestic violence would be considered a preexisting condition under the Republican health-care bill. “Do you think that’s right or not, secretary?” Heyman asked, according to a recording an audio recording Heyman provided to a reporter at The Post. “You refuse to answer? Tell me, ‘No comment.’”
Not long thereafter, Heyman, a reporter for three decades, was arrested.
-snip-
By Erik Wemple September 6 at 5:34 PM
No, Public News Service reporter Dan Heyman was not engaging in “willful disruption of governmental processes.”
Charges against Heyman, who pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price with questions in the West Virginia Capitol building in May, have been dropped, according to a joint announcement from the Public News Service and the Kanawha County prosecuting attorney. “The State has determined, after a careful review of the facts, that Mr. Heyman’s conduct, while it may have been aggressive journalism, was not unlawful and did not violate the law with which he was charged, that is, willfully disrupting a State governmental process or meeting,” notes the joint statement. “Mr. Heyman certainly appreciates the State’s decision and affirmatively states that he was simply doing his job as a reporter by asking questions of a federal official as that official walked through the Capitol.”
The West Virginia incident is ancient history when it comes to affronts to U.S. journalists, coming long before President Trump’s full-on attacks against the media at a recent rally in Arizona and before the body-slamming of a Guardian journalist by Republican Greg Gianforte in the final moments of his run for Montana’s sole congressional seat, which he ultimately won.
Yet it should not be forgotten. To recap, Heyman was following Price and White House aide Kellyanne Conway as they made their way through the building. They’d come to hear about opioid addiction. In a scene that plays out in legislative corridors across the country, Heyman was walking along as he asked Price a question about health-care policy. Specifically, he wanted to know whether domestic violence would be considered a preexisting condition under the Republican health-care bill. “Do you think that’s right or not, secretary?” Heyman asked, according to a recording an audio recording Heyman provided to a reporter at The Post. “You refuse to answer? Tell me, ‘No comment.’”
Not long thereafter, Heyman, a reporter for three decades, was arrested.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/09/06/west-virginia-case-its-still-lawful-to-pose-a-question-to-a-government-official/
1 replies
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Last edited Thu Sep 7, 2017, 09:35 AM - Edit history (1)
Bookmarking until I can get back to an internet connection that is faster than Pony Express.
From the Charleston, West Virginia, Gazette-Mail:
https://twitter.com/Kenwardjr
ETA what this is all about, Thursday, Sept. 7:
West Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question
This is a cross-post of my post in the thread in GD about the arrest.
W. Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary a question
West Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question
By Samantha Schmidt May 10 at 1:15 AM
....
Heyman has worked as a reporter for about 30 years, and his stories have appeared in the New York Times, NPR and other national news outlets, he said. Since 2009, he has worked as a West Virginia-based producer and reporter for Public News Service, a nonprofit news service that provides content to media outlets while also publishing its own stories.
Lark Corbeil, chief executive and founder of Public News Service, said Heyman’s arrest took the organization “very much by surprise.” ... “From what we can understand, he did nothing out of the ordinary,” Corbeil said in an interview with The Washington Post. “He was doing what any journalist would normally do, calling out a question and trying to get an answer.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia said in a statement that Heyman’s arrest constituted “a blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press.” It called the charges against Heyman “outrageous” and demanded they be dropped immediately. ... “This is a dangerous time in our country,” the statement read. “Freedom of the press is being eroded every day.”
“Today was a dark day for democracy,” the ACLU of West Virginia added. “But the rule of law will prevail. The First Amendment will prevail.”
....
Samantha Schmidt is a reporter for The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. She previously worked as a reporting fellow for the New York Times. Follow @schmidtsam7
By Samantha Schmidt May 10 at 1:15 AM
....
Heyman has worked as a reporter for about 30 years, and his stories have appeared in the New York Times, NPR and other national news outlets, he said. Since 2009, he has worked as a West Virginia-based producer and reporter for Public News Service, a nonprofit news service that provides content to media outlets while also publishing its own stories.
Lark Corbeil, chief executive and founder of Public News Service, said Heyman’s arrest took the organization “very much by surprise.” ... “From what we can understand, he did nothing out of the ordinary,” Corbeil said in an interview with The Washington Post. “He was doing what any journalist would normally do, calling out a question and trying to get an answer.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia said in a statement that Heyman’s arrest constituted “a blatant attempt to chill an independent, free press.” It called the charges against Heyman “outrageous” and demanded they be dropped immediately. ... “This is a dangerous time in our country,” the statement read. “Freedom of the press is being eroded every day.”
“Today was a dark day for democracy,” the ACLU of West Virginia added. “But the rule of law will prevail. The First Amendment will prevail.”
....
Samantha Schmidt is a reporter for The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. She previously worked as a reporting fellow for the New York Times. Follow @schmidtsam7
West Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question
Link to tweet
The Charleston {West Virginia} Gazette-Mail had a reporter at the Capitol, but they ran an Associated Press story about the arrest.
Journalist arrested during US health secretary's visit
The Associated Press May 10, 2017
Jake Zuckerman | Charleston Gazette-Mail Capitol Police remove journalist Dan Heyman on May 9.
The Associated Press May 10, 2017
Jake Zuckerman | Charleston Gazette-Mail Capitol Police remove journalist Dan Heyman on May 9.
Jake Zuckerman: @jake_zuckerman
Political reporter @wvgazettemail. Proud @OhioU alum, journalism and political science. RTs ? endorsements.
Charleston, WV
AHCA causes stir at WV Capitol; Manchin, Capito weigh in -- from @jake_zuckerman
Link to tweet
AHCA causes stir at WV Capitol; Manchin, Capito weigh in
Jake Zuckerman , Staff Writer May 9, 2017
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
Protesters, including Perry Bryant (right) of West Virginians For Affordable Healthcare, stand outside a conference room where DHHR Secretary Tom Price and other officials were meeting at the Capitol Tuesday.
Tempers flared at the West Virginia Capitol on Tuesday when protesters needled a D.C. political entourage in town on a “listening tour” regarding the pending replacement of the Affordable Care Act, leading to the arrest of one Charleston man.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Kellyanne Conway, special counsel to President Donald Trump, entered the Capitol with local politicians and immediately took heat from a group of activists wielding signs critical of the American Health Care Act, the ACA’s potential replacement.
Daniel Ralph Heyman, 54, jostled with Price’s security detail while trying to ask a question regarding coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, Capitol Police officers arrested him and charged him with willful disruption of governmental processes.
“The above defendant was aggressively breaching the secret service agents to the point where the agents were forced to remove him a couple of times from the area walking up the hallway in the main building of the Capitol,” the criminal complaint states.
....
Staff writer Jake Jarvis contributed to this report.Reach Jake Zuckerman at jake.zuckerman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4814 or follow @jake_zuckerman on Twitter.
Jake Zuckerman , Staff Writer May 9, 2017
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
Protesters, including Perry Bryant (right) of West Virginians For Affordable Healthcare, stand outside a conference room where DHHR Secretary Tom Price and other officials were meeting at the Capitol Tuesday.
Tempers flared at the West Virginia Capitol on Tuesday when protesters needled a D.C. political entourage in town on a “listening tour” regarding the pending replacement of the Affordable Care Act, leading to the arrest of one Charleston man.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Kellyanne Conway, special counsel to President Donald Trump, entered the Capitol with local politicians and immediately took heat from a group of activists wielding signs critical of the American Health Care Act, the ACA’s potential replacement.
Daniel Ralph Heyman, 54, jostled with Price’s security detail while trying to ask a question regarding coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, Capitol Police officers arrested him and charged him with willful disruption of governmental processes.
“The above defendant was aggressively breaching the secret service agents to the point where the agents were forced to remove him a couple of times from the area walking up the hallway in the main building of the Capitol,” the criminal complaint states.
....
Staff writer Jake Jarvis contributed to this report.Reach Jake Zuckerman at jake.zuckerman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4814 or follow @jake_zuckerman on Twitter.
Dan Heyman is our @PNS_WV producer who was performing journalism, not a protester. We are working to get him out of jail at this moment.
Link to tweet